Men´s activities encompassed politics, arts and crafts, construction,
agriculture, sea-faring, manufacturing and trade. Agriculture, the most common
male activity, is only rarely illustrated. Yet the large majority of citizens
of all Greek states relied upon the land for their basic income; even the
rich, who did not labor in the fields themselves, tended to oversee directly
the farming of at least some of their property rather than leasing it all
out. For the common people, agricultural work was the overwhelming reality
of their lives.

Two characteristic aspects of men´s private lives are the time-honored
pastimes of hunting and horseback riding, which took place out of doors, free
of the constraints of family life. These activities and the important theme
of warfare are well-illustrated in Greek vase painting.